Qualification for Burma Star

Was he not issued the War Medal ?

It might be worth scanning the photo and posting it here. As I understand it, regulations required the wearing of ribbons where awards had been made. Even servicemen who did not claim their medals still wore the ribbons whilst in service.

 

He was awarded the War medal too.
A letter dated 11/11/15 from MOD Medal Office in response to my enquiries states;
"Your father served with COPRA and the clandestine nature of many Combined Operations frequently necessitated a degree of secrecy and the official records that were kept are disappointingly sparse as to ship and unit movements and areas served. The usual entry onto service documents is simply HMS COPRA (the Combined Operations Pay and Drafting Office) which unfortunately gives no information that may be used in an assessment.
Due to the length of time that has elapsed since these events, and the now limited amount of contemporary records available to this office, we are unable to identify your father's whereabouts during the period at HMS COPRA from 1/7/1943 to 27/4/1946."
So. I've got more of an idea where he was than they.
This is like bashing my head against a wall. I think I might be sensible and stop now. It isn't a huge injustice after all, but perhaps these kind of minor injustices inflicted by the state soften us up for the big ones.
Christopher

 

Hi Christopher

I suggest you go through th most likely files at Kew before you give up. As he was an officer you stand more chance of finding him mentioned in any diary that does exist rather than if he was a rating.

Good luck!

 

Having properly re-read this thread and now having a complete understanding of the facts, somewhat drip-fed as they have been, these are my further comments.

You cannot prove that your father was entitled to the Burma Star, yet you seem to expect that the MOD should accept your anecdotal evidence/assertion that he was indeed entitled.
Your father had the opportunity to claim a Burma Star, had he thought himself entitled to one, but did not do so. That should be the end of the matter; I do not believe that descendents should be able to lobby for the award of additional medals and awards.
If you feel sure that he did serve in Burma, be proud of him, and settle for that.

 

Thank you for your advice. I'm sure it's well meant but somehow it sounds mean spirited and rather pompous.